Hello all,
I know there are several threads on opinions about this game. I want to give my honest, to-the-point opinion about this game. I hope it is taken as it is meant: constructive criticism. Hopefully it can be used to improve the game.
It has been stated before that Ambrosia did not actually develop the game. This is a mute point here. I for one, bought this game partly because it was Ambrosia who was selling it. You may say, I bought it --partly-- out of loyalty. I am a huge EVN fan. I was expecting a similar quality game in Uplink.
So, to the point: Is Uplink a fun game? In a word yes. When I started playing I got quickly engrossed. I quickly got to the point where I couldn't really advance without regisitering, and I ended up registering the very same day I downloaded it.
Unfortunately, however, the games many faults began to bother me more and more. Many have been pointed out before, and most are due to the user interface (UI). Like it or not, Mac users are used to a very high standard when it comes to UIs. Uplink is simply not up to the standard.
For example, the drag-and-drop window is awfully non-standard. The UI in general is at times slow, and unresponsive.
When I click on a dialog box it is necessary to manually delete the contents before typing in the information. For example I need to delete the "type IP here" before I actually type the IP. When I finished typing the IP I can't simply press return to submit the query. Now, this is not so bad in the IP-lookup case, but it is terrible when I need to type in queries quickly since I am being traced (i.e. looking up someone in the criminal DB).
Windows don't correctly cover other windows when opened. In 640x480 resolution (which is on by default, even on large monitors!!) the whole screen is cluttered and even some butons (i.e. the IRC connect) don't appear on screen.
Now, these are quick and easy flaws to detect. There are many drastic 'omisions.' in the UI. For example, why can't I copy-and-paste a name, or bank account number from an email to the dialog box. Instead, I have to type it in. I found myself many times scribbling things on a piece of paper, when I should have been able to make an in-game note. Its hard to imagine a2010 hacker using paper and pencil.
Many times I spent more time figuring out how to make a part of IE work, than on actually figuring how to crack a site, or clean up my tracks. This actually destroyed the "suspension of disbelief." more than once. A couple of times instead of thinking how clever my opponent hackers were in tracing me, I thought how stupid the game was in not allowing to do this or that.
And then there is the lack of depth in the story. In general the missions are OK, but they quickly become repetitive. The story driven missions are fun the first time around, but by no means compare to the depth found in EVN for instance.
Finally, an almost trivial point (barely worth mentioning) is the console. It clearly says UNIX, and yet it handles like a DOS terminal. I expected 'ls' to work, and it took me several minutes (while I was being traced) to figure out that I need to type 'dir.'
Now, I wouldn't bother criticizing the game if I didn't believe it could be improved. I fully believe that Uplink has the potential to be a most excellent game. Even better than EVN. It is this potential for greatness that makes it's flaws even more depressing. I for one, want a great Uplink.
If Ambrosia were allowed to take development of the Mac port, it could probably achieve the greatness many of us were expecting from the game.
Things I would suggest to work on:
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The user interface! This is definetely the first place to start in order to improve the game.
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More and more varied missions. More mission-storylines. More factions. A deeper world all-in-all. This could partly be improved by adding...
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User created plugins a-la EVN. Not just skins, but being able to create storylines, etc. and probably even TCs.
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Now, I list this point last as it obviously the hardest to implement, and could probably be the basis of Uplink 2. Put it online! There have been many discusions about how cool EVN would be online, but how the gameplay simply doesn't lend itself to online gaming. Uplink's gameply lends itself perfectly to the online world. From what I've seen from Introversion this is actually not a new idea either.
So there you have it. Just my two cents. Again, I wish this to be taken as constructive-crticism, and by no means do I wish to start a flame war. Thanks for reading.
CP